


On Council Meetings and Compromises

by hoper_dreamer



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (mostly. If you pretend they canonically dated), Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Flirting, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Original Character(s), arthur is tired of gwaine's shit, note passing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 12:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11554995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoper_dreamer/pseuds/hoper_dreamer
Summary: Gwaine has a love/hate relationship with council meetings.Ft.Poorly concealed flirting!Sexy note passing!Hallway makeouts!Elyan being helpful!and, of course:Arthur being done with Gwaine's shit.





	On Council Meetings and Compromises

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this like two years ago and just finished it lol. Hope there's no style inconsistencies.  
> Anyway Gwaine and Percival are in love and are DATING.  
> Please read and review.

  
Gwaine loved council meetings.

Not for the topics, of course. Those were about as interesting as listening to Leon talk about nobility or the proper armor-cleaning technique. Arthur might try his hardest, but no one can make discussing crop growing interesting.

That is, no one but Percival.

See, Percival was attentive. He was loyal. He was meticulous. Percival was one of the knights who thought it was imperative to pay attention to every increasingly dreary word coming out of Arthur's mouth. Gwaine was not. And he needed some sort of entertainment to endure the meetings.

Percival had proved to be quite good at entertaining Gwaine, whether it was in Gwaine's chambers, Percival's chambers, the armory, the broom closet in the west wing...

Of course, that sort of entertainment (regretfully) could not be carried out in front of the entire Round Table. At least not in Percival's mind. So Gwaine had to settle for what Percival deemed appropriate affection: an arm around the shoulder (too platonic); an arm around the waist (fantastic, but slightly awkward in chairs with arms); a hand on the thigh beneath the table (conjured far too many thoughts that couldn't be fulfilled at that moment); or holding hands (adorable, but made it difficult to pretend to take notes). Gwaine's type of affection was the sort that had caused Arthur to shout at him to " _pay attention or get a room_."

Overall, though, Gwaine couldn't complain. There was something marvelous in the feeling of Percival's warm, heavy limb on his body. Or to be able to kiss him in the cheek in a moment of bliss. Or hold his hand walking around the castle. Being able to be out in public with him just touching him was nearly as exhilarating as what they got up to behind closed doors.

For what seemed like the longest time, they couldn't ever be out. Percival's wishes. If it were only up to Gwaine, they would have been openly together immediately; at least among their friends. But Percival had told Gwaine about the time he'd been caught with his cock in another boy's mouth in one of the stables in his old village. After that, the boy wouldn't speak to him - along with the majority of the village. Percival didn't want to experience the rejection again. Gwaine had tried to explain that, in general, the city was far more accepting of men having a tumble with men than in backwoods villages, but Percival was still scared.

So they hid their relationship for almost a year. It was only after Morgana's takeover, after Gwaine was imprisoned and had to fight and nearly died too many times for either his or Percival's comfort.

"I just kept going back to that blasted arm grasp we had in the hall," Gwaine recalled Percival saying in Gwaine's bed, the night after the battle was won. "And what if that - if that had been the last time I saw you alive? I wanted to kiss you so _badly_ , but I feared too much. I couldn't say a proper goodbye." It was that night Percival decided they needed to tell their friends. The next day, Gwen apparently won a bet when they told them all.

They had been open in their relationship for three months now, and Gwaine still reveled in it. Gwaine at his heart wasn't a very private man; he liked regaling everyone with tales of his conquests, both in swordsmanship and in sex, even when most never seemed particularly invested. Having to clam up hurt almost as much as only being able to give Percival the barest of touches.

Now, Gwaine thought, he could touch him however and wherever he wanted. As Arthur droned on about something about wheat, Gwaine pointedly rested his hand on Percival's thigh. The large knight jumped comically as he tried to listen to Arthur talk. Gwaine smirked. He began to draw tiny circles on the top of Percival's thigh.

Percival bit his lip. "Stop," he said out of the side of his mouth. "This is important, Gwaine."

Gwaine moved his hand to the inside of his thigh and quickened his pace. Percival wouldn't look at him, but his leg twitched.

"What do you think, Gwaine?" Arthur asked.

Gwaine looked up, trying to keep an innocent expression. "Hmm?"

"What do you think about the crop regulations?" Gwen said wryly. Her mouth turned up at the corners as if to say _I know you haven't heard one lick of conversation in this meeting but I'm going to try to save you now._

"Oh, I think it's...good," Gwaine said. He lost focus and accidentally brushed his finger against the bulge in Percival's trousers. Accidentally. Percival jumped slightly and made a tiny needy sound.

Arthur's brow furrowed. "Good. Yes."

Percival kicked Gwaine under the table. Gwaine barely disguised a yelp.

Arthur's brow furrowed even more. "Gwaine, are you all right?"

"Perfectly." Gwaine blindly grabbed at a hunk of Percival, hoping it was a spot that would hurt. He succeeded. Percival squeaked, a mighty feat for one so large.

"That's it!" Arthur exclaimed. "Next meeting, you two are sitting _apart_!"

  
***

Gwaine hated council meetings.

For the topics, of course. Because now with no Percival to distract him, there was nothing to make the topics (currently some sort of dispute over merchants in the city) interesting.

Arthur had banished Percival to the other end of the table, while keeping Gwaine just one seat down from him, right beside Gwen. Probably to keep an eye on him, Gwaine thought. Percival seemed relatively okay with his new spot; he was sat by Elyan, and the two of them had their eyes glued on Arthur, who was somehow still talking. Gwaine kept attempting to make eye contact with Percival, but he steadfastly watched Arthur like he was the most interesting thing he had seen all day.

The thing is, Gwaine knew it was a little bit of an act. Percival was usually attentive, but sometimes even he would joke around with Gwaine during a meeting - there was no way he would not at least exchange eye contact.

Unless he was actually _trying_ , Gwaine realized. He was _trying_ to ignore him so he wouldn't be distracted. Gwaine laughed aloud. Every head around the table whipped towards him. Gwaine cleared his throat. "Sorry, I was. . . I was thinking about a joke 'ol Merlin told me the other day."

"I'm sure," Arthur demurred. "Do refrain from thinking about Merlin's jokes during council meetings from here on."

"Of course, my lord," Gwaine agreed. Merlin rolled his eyes. Gwaine winked at him.

Arthur started talking again, about a temperance movement in the lower city, whatever the hell that was.

Gwaine looked at Percival again, who was still watching Arthur as if every word falling from his lips was a shiny gold coin. Gwaine's heart swelled. Percival was _adorable_ sometimes. What kind of luck did he have to be with probably the most precious knight in all of Camelot? (The thought occured to Gwaine that his love for Percival probably made him a little biased, but he pushed the thought aside in favor of agreeing with himself that yes, Percival was the most adorable knight of Camelot.)

His level of focus was also _extremely_ arousing. Gwaine had seen that level of focus in two major other places: the battlefield and the bedroom. Gwaine saw the near exact same look on Percival's face when his hand was around Gwaine's cock.

Gwaine swallowed. This was not a good time to be thinking those thoughts, considering Arthur seemed to be in one of his oratory phases. He wouldn't be able to relieve himself - or get some relief, depending on Percival's mood - for who knew how long. He tried to make eye contact with Percival again and failed. Then, he broke through his lust-addled mind and got an idea. He grabbed a piece of parchment from the table and set to scribbling.

_You look adorable like this, all focused_.

He folded the paper over and wrote ' _Percival_ ' on it. He poked Leon, who was sitting beside him, in the side with the tip of the quill.

Leon jumped. "What?" he hissed.

"Pass this to Percival," whispered Gwaine, palming the note to the other knight. Leon nodded and passed it to the knight beside him - Galavant, Galahad, Gilead? Gwaine could never remember. The note was passed all the way around the table to Percival, who was doodling on a bit of parchment himself. He took the note, opened it, and cracked a smile. The big knight picked up his quill and wrote what was presumably a reply. He passed it to Elyan, who passed it around the other side of the table. Gwaine watched the note's progress, biting his lip when Merlin surreptitiously passed it behind Arthur to Gwen until it was pressed, warm from all the passing hands, into his palm.

**What?**

One word, in Percival's unruly scrawl with dark lines as thick as his biceps. Gwaine tapped his quill on the parchment, leaving tiny dots of black around the "w" in Percival's answer. How to answer? Gwaine thought for a moment. Might as well be blunt.

_I want to take you_.

Gwaine folded the paper again, and it made its rounds until it reached Percival. He opened it, and almost immediately the tips of his ears turned red as poppies. Gwaine smirked. Percival wrote another reply and passed it around. He adamantly refused to meet Gwaine's gaze.

**And what if I want to take you?**

A rush of heat flowed through Gwaine's body. Writing even more quickly now, he replied and sent the note back. Leon rolled his eyes but passed it along nevertheless.

_There will have to be some discussion on that part, Sir. But... Perhaps we can strike up a compromise._

Gwaine's leg jiggled under the table. Seriously, having this conversation was not helping the situation in his pants. His eyes followed the note until it reached Percival. He slowly opened it, and when he read it, he finally looked up at Gwaine. His gaze was heated.

Now, that was _really_ not helping.

**Perhaps**.

Gwaine balled the note in his fist and squeezed it as if destroying the cause of his discomfort would eliminate the discomfort itself. He stuck the note in his pocket.

"Percival?" Arthur said. "I would like you to lead a scouting mission. You must go into the forest and do a search of the northern bluffs. It's the one section we haven't searched for Morgana yet."

"I will go, my lord," Percival said, all trace of arousal gone from his face.

Gwaine scowled. How could Percival look so calm and collected after sending that damned note across the table while Gwaine could hardly keep himself from launching himself across the table and kissing that look off his face?

"It should be a week long trip, should all go to plan," Arthur continued. "Galahad, Elyan, and Peregrin will go with you."

Gwaine groaned. All eyes turned to him. "You've got to be kidding me, my lord."

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Sir Percival and I have gone on every mission together for as long as we've been knights," Gwaine explained. "Yet, as soon as I make you angry, you separate us?"

"Sir Gwaine," Arthur said, his voice tense. "You know that scouting missions are not considered _dates_."

Gwaine heard quiet chuckles from around the table. His temper rose.

"'Course they aren't," he snapped. "I don't want to go on scouting missions with Percival just because we are together. I want to go on scouting missions with him because I know that we work together the best of any other knights. I can watch his back and he can watch mine like nobody else can. And if by some chance he would run into Morgana's men and everything goes bloody pear-shaped, I would want to know I've got his back to make sure he does come back."

Merlin leaned over to Arthur. "He's got a point, you know," he said quietly.

"Shut up, _Merlin_ ," said Arthur. "I'm sorry, Sir Gwaine, but scouting missions above four people get more dangerous than they warrant. You'll have to remain in Camelot."

"I'll give up my spot," Elyan spoke up.

"What?" Arthur said.

"What?" Gwaine said.

"What?" Percival said.

Elyan shook his head in slight exasperation. "My lord, you know that if Gwaine is left here alone, he will be moping around all week, and any task put to him would be - pardon - half-arsed. And if Percival goes without Gwaine, he will not perform as well. What Gwaine said it true; they rely on each other to keep one eye open for the other." Elyan shrugged. "And I don't want to have to deal with mopey Gwaine and stressed Percival. Not to mention Gwaine is one of the best knights we have. So I volunteer to take Gwaine's duties for the week so he may take my place."

Percival made eye contact with Gwaine across the room, and his mouth quirked into a small smile.

Arthur sighed heavily. "I suppose so. Gwaine, you will leave on the scouting mission with Sir Percival, Sir Galahad, and Sir Peregrin in the morning."

In minutes, the council meeting was finally over. Gwaine dashed over to Elyan, trying to appear calm and not as if he had been nursing a raging erection for most of the meeting. "Hey, thanks for that."

Elyan shrugged. "It wasn't a problem. I would rather stay in town this week anyway. The traveling merchants are coming to town next weekend, and I've got to figure out what I can trade. Plus, you two really are incorrigible when apart. Speaking of, I think he's waiting for you." Elyan cracked a smile and walked away.

Percival stood talking to Galahad, a freckly young knight with downy red hair, and Peregrin, a smaller man with brown skin and curly hair, but his eyes were on Gwaine. He waved him over.

"We plan to meet at dawn tomorrow morning," Peregrin said in his gravelly voice. "That work for you, Sir Gwaine?"

"Sure," Gwaine said.

"Don't forget all of your supplies - cloak, sword, mess kit, bedroll," Percival said. This was mostly directed to Galahad, Gwaine figured. The young knight was freshly out of squiring and occasionally needed to be reminded to do things like comb his hair or tighten his boots. "And be on time tomorrow." Peregrin and Galahad both nodded before walking away.

"You'll handle our bedroll, won't you, Perce?" Gwaine murmured, reaching his hand between Percival's cloak and his back to dance his fingers acrossed the warm cotton and toned muscle.

"Since you handled the king, I suppose I can," Percival replied quietly.

"Although Elyan did most of the compromising for us."

"You mentioned something about _compromising_ earlier, didn't you?" Percival said. His brown eyes were dark and heated, and at first Gwaine thought he was going to kiss him in front of everyone before Percival turned around and walked out of the room.

Gwaine followed swiftly. "My room or yours?" he breathed, catching Percival's wrist. He could feel his pulse racing.

"Mine," Percival said. "It's the farthest from the common rooms." By this point they had turned a corner into an empty hall. Percival shoved Gwaine against the stone wall and kissed him deeply. When he pulled away he lingered barely away from Gwaine's mouth. Gwaine could feel his hot breath as he whispered, "We wouldn't want to disturb anyone with noise."

"All right, so you're fucking me tonight, that's settled," said Gwaine breathlessly before kissing him again.

Percival pulled away and grinned. "We'll compromise."

Sometimes, Gwaine did love council meetings. Not because of the topics, of course. But because of what came after.

 

 


End file.
